The Magicians Reid
by DArtagnan09
Summary: Spencer Reid has a fourth graduate degree no one knows about. One day the BAU is dragged into a strange world - a dark, insane, and dangerous world that their resident genius is far too comfortable in. What are they supposed to think when it's the scientist defying the laws of science? Spencer/OC. Title and rating may change.
1. Prologue

Hey guys! D'Artagnan here with a new story!

For those of you who follow my Flash stories, Feeling Good, please don't worry, I'm still working on them. I go through obsessions - a book, a show, a game - and after a time begin to lose...not interest, but inspiration for original content. I'll probably roll back around to it, but it might take a while. Please be patient, and hopefully this is something that may be up your alley.

I read The Magicians shortly after it came out in 2009 and was blown away. I'm currently re-reading it so I can get to The Magician King and The Magician's Land. I LOVE the new Syfy adaptation, they're doing an incredible job with cinematography, special effects, and the acting is impeccable. That said, this is canon from the TV SHOW. NOT THE BOOK. I have to list it in the book category because FFN doesn't have a category for TV yet. Please don't leave me a shitty review about how this doesn't follow the books - I know it doesn't. It's not supposed to. I will be pulling from the book here and there, as the show is only four episodes in and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to go with this. But I kept getting these ideas and seeing scenes in my head, and I wanted to give this a try. I'm interested in seeing how this will be received.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

Spencer Reid had always been, at his core, a very private man.

He had friends, certainly - his FBI coworkers, his university colleagues, old faces from school years past. He had been married when he started with the Bureau, though in the near decade he'd been a member of the BAU the members of his team had never met his wife, or even seen a photo. They knew she went by Del, and that she was the security director for a private university in upstate New York. She had never once come to D.C. to visit, apparently living full time on campus, married as much to her job as to Spencer, similarly to Sam and Alex Blake. The doctor refused to even name the school, citing security measures, but disappeared for an extended weekend every month to see her.

It had become a point of contention shortly after Henry had been born - his friends, especially Jennifer Jareau and Derek Morgan, were both hurt and angry when they realized he had no intention of ensuring a meeting ever took place. Spencer was her son's godfather, JJ had argued, she had a right to know who would be in his life. Spencer had calmly and firmly assured her that the chances of Del ever being a part of Henry's life were slim to none, and even if such an occurrence did take place he would trust the young boys life in Del's hands sooner than in his own. Penelope Garcia had tried, and failed, to find information about her online - Adelaide Reid was on file as the wife of Spencer Reid, but for some reason the technical goddess couldn't find a picture or even her maiden name. When begging for his privacy to be respected hadn't worked, Spencer had been forced to threaten to leave the team, and it was only after a drawn out conversation, with Hotch acting as mediator, that the group reached a truce and agreed to let the matter drop.

That had been four years ago, and while there was still the occasional grumble no one truly gave Spencer grief. The addition of Alex to the team this year had given him a kindred spirit of sorts, and seeing another healthy person in a long-term long-distance relationship had helped to quell the team's concerns for their youngest member. Without the prying, Spencer had felt comfortable enough to divulge a few more details - they met and married in graduate school, they went to the same tiny cabin in the Adirondacks for their wedding anniversary every year, he had proposed on the same bench where they first met.

But all in all, they still knew very little about her, because Spencer Reid was a very private man. Keeping his life neatly compartmentalized was a point of pride for the man, a skill he had mastered and wielded effortlessly.

Until the afternoon it blew up in his face.


	2. Welcome to Brakebills

Jumping right into the story. For reference, this takes place in season 8 of Criminal Minds, and the fourth episode of The Magicians. Some dialogue taken from the show.

Since I forgot in the prologue, I don't own Criminal Minds or The Magicians. Consider yourselves disclaimed.

* * *

 **WELCOME TO BRAKEBILLS**

It had been a relatively uneventful week at the BAU. Spencer and Alex had spent the last hour or so of the day timing each other's crosswords. Derek and Rossi spent it chatting about the new jazz club downtown. JJ and Penelope spent it flipping through fashion magazines. Even Hotch was taking it easy this particular Friday afternoon, and was actually leaving at the same time as his team. They all crowded together into the elevator, playfully arguing about where they were all going to dinner, and when the door dinged, they stepped into bright, warm sunlight, before collectively stopping in their tracks.

Instead of dreary November rain pelting on the windows of the entrance floor of the Bureau, the sun was high in the sky, warming the jade green grass beneath their feet. In front of them was a vast, regal building that looked like it had been transplanted from an English countryside. The trees surrounding the large grounds were tall and healthy, and a fountain in front of the large building gurgled pleasantly.

So shocked were they that no one noticed the tiny girl standing directly in front of them, until Spencer shouldered his way to the front of the group, pushing past them and striding heavily towards her.

"Have you lost your mind?!" he thundered angrily, and the sound seemed unnaturally loud somehow. "Opening a portal in the middle of the FBI?! My entire team came through!"

But even as he yelled, his eyes drank her in as though he could never get his fill, his right hand coming to cup the back of her neck tenderly, fingers tangling in the frizzy dark curls fallen loose from the messy bun on the crown of her head. It wasn't until she started yelling back that they realized she wasn't a young girl as they'd first assumed, but a grown woman who didn't quite reach five feet. Even in the tall boots she wore with dark skinny jeans and a fitted brown sweater, he barely came to Spencer's chest.

"I didn't have a choice! A student's life is in danger, I had to get you here now!" Her left hand came up to grip the wrist of the hand on her neck, thumb rubbing absentmindedly against the back of it. The profilers immediately noticed the plain silver band on her ring finger that matched the one on Spencer's own.

This was Del Reid, Spencer's mysterious wife. Looks were exchanged between the members of the BAU, even as she plowed on.

"Tell them whatever you want, we can figure out the details later, but I didn't have time to wait and catch you alone!"

Spencer's anger had drained away and been replaced with a fierce, protective dread when she said there was a life in danger. His job was about saving lives, just as Del's was about protecting them. He nodded once, turning back to his team.

"I don't have time to explain in detail just yet. I need you all to trust me. Everything you're about to see and hear is real, and I need you to keep an open mind until I figure out what's going on and how to handle it. Can you please do that for me?"

After a few moments, the team nodded. Spencer had changed since stepping out of the elevator. It was subtle, but it was there - an air of authority and confidence that was usually absent, along with a strange sense of power. But he was their friend, and someone was clearly in dire need of his help. They wouldn't stand in the way.

Spencer sighed in relief, before turning as one with Del and beginning to stride towards the school. Del, who should have needed two steps to keep up with just one of Spencer's strides, loped along keeping perfect pace, almost gliding as if powered forward by some unseen force. The team hurried after them, silently trying to follow their increasingly confusing conversation.

"So what's happening?"

"Quentin Coldwater, First Year Undetermined that's staying in the Physical Cottage. His old roommate's a Psychic, Quentin was able to reach out to him and let him know he'd been trapped in a spell and needed help. He and two more Physicals brought him to the Dean and me. It's Scarlatti's Web, we have to summon a Matarese."

Spencer balked. "You don't just fall into a spell like that by accident, someone did this to him. Someone who knew we'd have to take the wards down for the summoning. This is a trap, Del."

"Of course it's a trap!" she shouted as they entered the building, which was just as regal and antiquated on the inside. "But without the exact wording of the spell, we don't have a choice!" Her boots were clack-clacking against the marble floors now as they moved swiftly through winding hallways, receiving curious glances from what appeared to be - judging by their age and backpacks - graduate students that parted for them as they passed. They quickly reached a corner office that Spencer opened...with a wave of his hand.

The next several minutes were a confusing blur. In the room were several figures - an older black gentleman with dark glasses and a suit stood over an unconscious young man with longish hair on a couch. He must have been Quentin, the student in danger. Three other students were there, a tall, thin white man in impeccable clothes and an attractive curled fringe, and a young Indian man and white woman in grungy, tastefully alternative clothing. The black man turned to the door as they entered.

"I see you brought more than just Spencer, Del. That was dangerous." His voice was pleasantly dark and rich, and he seemed almost unaffected by the palpable tension in the room.

"We'll worry about it later, Dean," Spencer said. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Lower the wards, please."

Spencer had shrugged out of his coat, scarf, and bag, and now he and Del faced each other. The height difference would have been comical if not for the serious expressions on both of their faces. In unison, they brought their hands up into the space between them and began to move, shaping their fingers into unusual positions, drawing their hands and arms in precise mirrored patterns through the air, in movements so fluid it was almost like a strange dance. Lines and script began to shimmer in their air above everyone's heads.

"Very good," the dean said. "And now the South wards." Lines and script continued to materialize over their heads, until the Reids lowered their arms and the light faded.

Del crossed the room and brought over a small golden cage, which Spencer then opened carefully and reverently. He drew from it a small golden replica of what looked to be a scorpion, and laid it gently on the unconscious students face. He looked back to Del with a question in his eyes, and she shook her head.

"No, you're a better summoner than me. I'd rather you handled it." He nodded at her, turning back to the dean. The black man, who they'd realized by now was blind, seemed to know they were ready, and he held his right hand over Quentin's still form and began to chant as Spencer began to make more complicated shapes and movements with his hands and arms.

" _Daemonium Matarese, ecce vocavi te in carcere liberare mens est. Imperio Scarlatti telem nobus._ "

"That's...the answer?" asked the thin student with the dark fringe. He seemed worried, and also slightly unimpressed. Spencer continued to move his hands and arms, leaving trails of visibly disturbed air in his wake.

"It shorts out the cerebral cortex, which should break him out of the spell, which should bring him back. Halfway."

"Halfway?" the female student asked.

"The spell is like a prison in the middle of the desert," Del said. "The Matarese breaks you out of the prison, but you have to get yourself out of the desert, and it is a lot easier with a guide." She turned to the last student in the room. "Penny, are you ready?" The young Indian man walked silently to the other couch in the room, sitting comfortably with his hands on his knees, and then, with a deep breath, he closed his eyes.

Spencer took the Dean's place now, making a final, large gesture over the young man. The golden scorpion's tail twitched. Then a claw. Then it shuddered and crawled its way into Quentin's mouth, disappearing down his throat with a gag and a swallow.

Spencer took a deep breath now, before turning to face his team. Their expressions ranged from confusion to fear. Del slipped to his side and took one of his hands in both of hers, squeezing in assurance. He squeezed back, tightly, before taking another deep breath.

"Welcome to Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy," he said simply. "My alma mater."


	3. Gray Area

Warning, pretties, bit of a long A/N ahead.

Okay, so as the wonderful Village-Mystic made me realize, there may be some people reading this who are familiar with the very popular and decade+ running show Criminal Minds, but not so familiar with the fairly new and not quite as popular book & TV adaptation The Magicians. They pointed out, quite correctly, that the secrecy and security of Del's life and job is a bit much for outside readers. I'm trying to introduce bits and pieces as we go along to hopefully give you some 'aha!' moments, so I don't want to ruin anything, but I think it's important you guys know a few things so everyone can enjoy this to its fullest.

This story is about Criminal Minds characters finding themselves magically transplanted into the world of The Magicians, and finding out that one of them has lived there all along. The Magicians is an adult fantasy series that explores what magic would be like in real life in the hands of real young adults with real problems and real consequences for their fuckups. The book especially notes that it's kept tightly secret, even from closest loved ones, generally with some magic to help it along. I ask that you please keep this in mind as you suspend your belief.

Another thing made clearer on the page than on the screen is the type of student that has the magical aptitude to be accepted to Brakebills. I'll paraphrase the book: separate the best and brightest from the rest. Then, take only the best and brightest of this smaller group. The 1% of the 1%. These are the kind of people that can use magic. When taking into account the necessary brilliance required in the book and the more adult setting of graduate school in the show, all I could think was "Spencer Reid would be in that group. And he does do all that magic. What if...what if Spencer had a stint at Brakebills in between a couple of those PhDs? What kind of Magician would he be?" And I pictured a thousand scenarios. Some from the show, some from the book, a Healer, a Psychic, a Physical, married, unmarried. Del's been dancing around in my head for a while now and fit so seamlessly into this world I couldn't help but include her. Even if no one ever likes or understands this, I'm truly enjoying the exercise in writing and looking forward to more well constructed criticism like I received from Village-Mystic.

Oh, and one last thing to keep in mind, something canon in both book and show - magic doesn't come from talent. It comes from pain.

I don't own Criminal Minds or The Magicians. Consider yourselves disclaimed.

* * *

 **GRAY AREA**

Spencer's announcement was met with continued silence from his team. JJ and Derek both wore looks that were a mixture of fear and concern. Hotch was as stoic as ever. Alex seemed to be thinking hard about everything she was seeing, and true to form, Rossi looked around congenially and seemingly unperturbed.

Penelope wore the only expression that looked the least bit excited. "Are you telling me you can do actual magic? Like Harry Potter, potions, animagi, all of that?"

Del, Spencer, the dean, and the two conscious students all huffed in almost perfect unison.

"I can't stand that hedge bitch," growled the female student. "Wand waving? That soul-splitting Horcrux bullshit? That's not magic, that's fairy tales. Fucking amateur sellout."

Penelope's eyes looked like they were trying to bug out of her head. "JK Rowling is a MAGICIAN?!"

"No," Del said forcefully, even as she left Spencer's side to join the dean in checking over Quentin. "She's a hedge witch. Not enough magical aptitude to be invited to attend school, but they can manage a few party tricks - IF they can find a real spell to begin with."

"One offered to blow me for a spell once," drawled the fringed student. "It was almost worth it..." his voice trailed away. Del twisted to glare at him over her shoulder. "Sorry Mrs. Reid."

"I'm not sure how long it will take Penny to bring Quentin back," Spencer said, trying to pull the conversation back on track. "But I'll answer as many questions as I can."

"Are you allowed to do that?" Rossi asked, one eyebrow raised. "You've obviously kept it a secret this long for a reason." Spencer opened his mouth as though to respond, before turning to Del and the dean for clarification.

The dean shrugged, but Del furrowed her brow in thought. "I'm the one who decides if we erase your memories after this, and considering it's my fault you ended up here in the first place I'm inclined to let you keep them," she said slowly. "My husband trusts you, and I have to follow that. Tell them what you want, Spencer."

"Is this real?" JJ asked quietly, distressed. All eyes turned to her. "Am I losing my mind?"

"No, JJ," Spencer said quickly, stepping forward and reaching towards her, but JJ flinched and he dropped his hands, haltingly, to his sides. "I promise you, you're not. Magic is real. It's messy, and dangerous, and unbelievably hard to learn, but it's real. I studied here for three years with Del, in between my last two doctorates. I'm still me, JJ. There's just...more to me than you knew about."

But the blond agent was still visibly distressed. Del looked back over from her examination of Quentin. "He's still the same man that rushed to your hospital bed to meet your son after a devastating realization about his own childhood. The same man that keeps chocolate and gummi worms in his satchel because he knows they're your favorites. The same man that your little boy loves so much he dressed up as him for Halloween a few weeks ago. JJ, I can make sure you don't remember any of this if you want, but this will always be a part of him. He wants you to know, otherwise you'd already be back in DC with no memory of the past twenty minutes. Wouldn't you rather know him and love him for all that he is than forever be in the dark?"

But before JJ could answer, Penny gasped as he awoke from his trance state. Del was immediately at his side, rippling her fingers in the air around his body. Though she seemed satisfied with whatever information she gathered, the dean finally started to look anxious as Quentin still lay unconscious.

"It isn't working," came his rich timbre. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I-I went there, I told him, the Matarese did his thing, and then everything went black." Penny had a vague New York accent.

The dean's mouth drew into a thin line as Del and Spencer exchanged pained looks. From the corner of his eye, Hotch saw the female student slip from the room.

"What are we supposed to do now?" asked the fringed student.

Penny had closed his eyes again, concentrating, and opened them now. "I can't get back in, he's never been able to block me before."

"It's because he's not trapped anymore, he's locked himself in tight, which locks us out," Spencer said. "He refuses to find his way out of the desert."

Del's fists balled up, a gesture Spencer knew to mean she was forcibly restraining herself from releasing a concussive blast at something nearby, probably her desk or a wall. She had a violent temper, but Spencer was confident she wouldn't act rashly with so many people in the room.

"There must be something, Dean Fogg," Del ground out.

"I'm afraid not," the older man sighed. "The only person who can do anything for Quentin now is Quentin."

"Oh God," came a strangled female voice from the door of the office. A lovely young woman with long dark curls and dark circles under her tear-filled eyes entered the room quickly, dropping to her knees beside Quentin's still form. "Oh God, Q, I'm so sorry." Suddenly it was as though an invisible hand had grabbed her by the hair and dragged her away, yanking her up with a scream until her the toes of her boots barely touched the floor.

Finally with a target upon which to take out her aggression, Del's dark eyes seemed to glow with fury as she held her right fist in the air as though _she_ were the one dangling the young girl by her roots. It clicked for the team after a moment that she _was_ the one doing it.

"Who the fuck are you, hedge, and why the fuck would you do this?"

But the girl only screamed and continued to struggle against the invisible grip on her hair. Del rolled her eyes and made a flicking motion with her left thumb and middle finger, and the girl's mouth was suddenly shut tightly, the sounds muffled. Del raised her hand slightly higher in the air, pulling the girl entirely off the floor by her hair as tears poured down her face. Derek moved forward as though he could stop what was happening, but found himself halted in his tracks by an unseen force. Spencer had extended one hand, thumb and forefinger pressed together as the other three fingers curled inward. He was the one holding Derek in place.

"Don't," he said lowly, just loud enough for the whole team to hear. His tone was almost dangerous. "On this campus, Del is the law. This girl played around with something much bigger than she's capable of comprehending, and she needs to be taught that childish actions have adult consequences. There is no black and white with magic. There is no good and bad, or right and wrong. Only cause and effect." Turning back to his wife, Spencer released the magical hold on his friend.

Del had by now lowered the girl back onto her toes and scrubbed the silencing spell, though she still kept a tight magical grip on her hair. "Answer me." But she only whimpered again.

"Her name is Julia, she and Quentin used to be best friends," the fringed student supplied, recognizing her for the first time. Dean Fogg's head turned in his direction.

"Eliot?"

The student, now identified as Eliot, shifted a little uncomfortably. "She practices with a bunch of other hedge bitches in Brooklyn. They, uh...they somehow came to be in possession of a book from the Physical Cottage's library...and Quentin and I went to get it...and they sort of had a yelling match in the street about her slumming it." He said the last part quickly, like ripping off an adhesive bandage.

Del looked back to Julia with disgust, releasing her grip on the girl's hair, who fell to the floor and clutched her head in relief. "You goddamn child. You did this to get back at him for a stupid argument? Did you even think about how a spell like this could affect someone like Quentin? How could you even - Oh! I _remember_ you! You're the brat that told Professor March your failed entrance exam was a mistake - I believe you accused us of only taking 'sheep' who don't ask questions? Fucking arrogance. I don't know how you got caught up with those lowlifes, but if this-" she gestured harshly at the unconscious young man on her couch, "-is a reflection of the quality of your judgement, then that's exactly where you belong."

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" Julia cried angrily.

"Well it happened!" Del thundered back at her, voice too large and too loud for such a tiny woman. "And now he may never wake up, and guess what, hedge? It's your fault!"

Julia had scrambled to her feet now, and was pleading with Dean Fogg, looking for sympathy or understanding. "Look, I can help, I can give you the exact wording of the spell."

But the dean was hard and resolute, though not as anger-fueled as his head of security. "It's too late."

"It was just supposed to be a joke," she sniffed.

"Yeah, bullshit," Eliot said cuttingly. "You did it to get even."

"Fuck you, somebody help him!"

"If I had the exact spell wording one hour ago-" the dean cut himself off, his meaning clear.

"There's got to be something," she cried.

"Do you have any idea where he is right now?" Penny asked her. "Why would you do this?"

"She didn't," the dean answered for her. "Not by herself. Did you?"

Julia shook her head a minuscule amount.

"Who helped you?" Del demanded. When she didn't answer, Del took a menacing step closer. "Tell me or I'll rip it from your mind myself, and I'm no Psychic. It will be messy and it will be excruciating, and I'll probably leave you a vegetable by the time I'm done. Something tells me I'd be okay with that."

The vicious indifference in her tone at the idea of permanently disabling someone gave the BAU members pause, exchanging glances of concern and disbelief. Del was seeming more and more like the kind of person they chased down and put away, not the kind of person Spencer would fall in love with. Only Rossi continued to observe indifferently.

Pale and shaking, Julia was obviously terrified, but still appeared hesitant to answer. Del growled and began to move her hands in another spell, but was interrupted by Quentin shooting up on the couch, the Matarese flying from his throat as he coughed and struggled to breathe. All heads turned to him except Del and Spencer, who shot towards each other and began immediately weaving another spell. In moments, the shimmering lines and script had appeared and faded again, indicating the wards had been successfully reset.

"Hey," Eliot said with obvious relief, sitting on the back of the couch and placing a hand on Quentin's head as the young man tried to orient himself. "Somebody woke up."

"Took your damn time," Penny added.

Quentin could only moan as he gasped for breath.

"Somebody get him some brandy," Dean Fogg said, the barest hint of a smile in his voice.

"Somebody get all of us some brandy," Del corrected.

Eliot shot to his feet immediately, strutting towards Del's wetbar. "Flying in." As he looked back to check how many glasses he'd need for everyone, he stopped in his tracks. "Wait. Where's the hedge bitch?" The entire room turned to where Julia had been standing seconds ago, but she was gone.

* * *

This was longer than I wanted it to be, but if I were to cut it in a place that makes sense it would be shorter than I'm happy with, so I went with it.

So Del can be pretty fucking cruel. Is it who she really is, or part of her role as 'the law' of the school? Or maybe a complicated mixture of both?


	4. Battlemancer-in-Residence

A little background on Del, and some more information on magic and how things work at Brakebills and in the world of magic at large.

I created Del's position in the school and the concept of Battlemancy as a Discipline, so if you don't recognize it that's why. Also, I'm aware Spencer is a little OOC, but keep in mind that this is a massive part of himself that he's been keeping a secret, a world with much different (read: practically non-existant) moral compunctions. He's still Spencer at the very core, but he's far more powerful when stepping into his role as a Magician and that reflects in his personality. Anything that seems OOC is deliberate and purposeful. This is an AU, he is NOT the precious, innocent Spencer we know and love.

I don't own Criminal Minds or The Magicians. Consider yourselves disclaimed.

* * *

 **BATTLEMANCER-IN-RESIDENCE**

After a shared round of brandy, the large group split - Penny and Eliot were sent on their way, Quentin accompanied Dean Fogg to his office, and Del and Spencer led the BAU to their private rooms in the staff quarters.

It was a smallish apartment, large enough for a bedroom, sitting room, small efficiency kitchen, and a single bathroom. The color and decor was similar to Spencer's own in DC, soft browns and greens, cozy mismatched furniture, and wall-to-wall bookshelves. After passing out another round of brandy, Del perched - for there was no other word for the way she tucked in on herself and balanced perfectly - onto the arm of the squashy chair occupied by her husband and broke the mildly uncomfortable silence that had overtaken them.

"I need to properly apologize to all of you. I needed Spencer - he and I created the wards together, and it takes both of us to put them up or take them down. Even so, bringing you here with no warning or consideration was dangerous and wrong of me. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am." She looked between all of them but her eyes lingered on JJ as she spoke, knowing the woman was struggling with everything she'd seen and learned. "If there's anything I can do or tell you to make this somehow easier or better for you, all you have to do is ask."

Surprisingly, JJ was the first to speak. "Where even are we?"

"Upstate New York," Spencer said promptly. "That was always true. The campus is surrounded by wards and charms that keep it hidden and undetectable from anyone who's not supposed to be here, so no one can stumble upon the school by accident."

"And people are really here to learn...magic?" Both Reids nodded.

"It's a three-year graduate program," Del clarified. "Most students are in their early twenties, but occasionally they take younger students like Spencer and me. We were invited to take the entrance exam in the same year, when we were both 17."

"Invited?" Alex asked. They smiled.

"Yes. It's quite disconcerting, actually," Spencer said. "I was on my way back to CalTech from visiting my mom, and I stopped at a rest stop. When I walked through the lavatory door, I was in the entrance hall. For once I didn't question everything - I just took the exam. Dean Fogg helped to...unlock my powers after that-" he glared slightly at his wife's quiet, amused snort, "-and I spent the next three years learning to do things conventional science can't even theorize yet. CalTech didn't mind letting me defer the last half of my Engineering doctorate, though it had lost much of its excitement by then."

"And you, Del?" Rossi asked. "When Spencer said you met in grad school we always assumed CalTech, but it was obviously here at Brakebills. What were you doing before this? Were you at school somewhere else?"

Del smiled softly and a little bitterly into her brandy glass, and Spencer put a supportive hand on her knee. "Brakebills was the first time in my life I set foot in a classroom. I spent my days in the public library reading every book I could get my hands on, and my nights turning tricks for food money and sleeping under bridges."

There was a shocked silence that spanned several moments as her declaration sank in. She glanced up, and grinned brightly to dispel the tension. "I'm not ashamed of doing what I had to do to survive. I was born behind a dumpster in a back alley in Brooklyn. My mother was an addict, as was I, and she raised me on the streets or in homeless shelters my whole life. It's why I'm so small, she was incapable of taking care of herself when she was pregnant with me and we so rarely had food. She OD'd when I was 14 and I lost myself on the streets so I wouldn't have to go into foster care. I got to Brakebills when I walked through the front doors of the Metropolitan Library one morning - very fitting if you ask me."

"So you got clean when you went to school?" Penelope asked, ever searching for the happy ending. Both Spencer and Del laughed.

"God no!" she said. "Do you have any idea the kind of swag you can score on this campus? Physicals are inherently hedonistic, and it takes us a bit longer to grow out of it than most. Tack on the fact that working magic is like a high in and of itself, it's easy to overindulge. Luckily we both calmed down in our twenties."

Rossi spoke the words on everyone's mind. "So the Tobias Hankel incident..."

"-was actually a relapse," Spencer finished for him. "Nothing since then, though."

"If using magic is like a high then isn't it dangerous for you?" JJ asked, clearly concerned. Del smiled as Spencer answered - it was nice to see her husband's best friend growing more comfortable and accepting of his secret life.

"No - it _is_ like a high when you experience it, but that's more like a side effect, sometimes it's even unpleasant. Only a weak-powered or weak-willed Magician suffers from the lingering issues and symptoms that come with addiction. Del and I are neither of those things."

"How did the school find you?" Derek asked.

"Magic," Del purred mysteriously, and to her and Spencer's joy Derek rolled his eyes with a grin. Everyone seemed to be rolling with the developments nicely. "Really though. Powerfully charmed globes that detect magical aptitude. While you have to be born with the aptitude for magic, you're not born capable of using it. It's incredibly complex with literally thousands of variations for individual spells - we call them Complications. But some are easier to manage, and people can do it without realizing it. That's what the globes search for. Some of Spencer's magic tricks were real magic."

"What were you doing?" Penelope asked this to Del.

"Linguistics," the small Magician nodded her head to Alex. "I studied languages voraciously, I'm quite proud of being a polyglot. When I was 'working' I would distract myself by making up languages - grammar, syntax, the whole shebang. Sometimes when I was alone I would talk to myself in them and things would happen - objects moving, plants sprouting in chemically ravaged soil. I was performing spells without realizing it. When I found out I was a Magician, that I was special and could do incredible things - I'd never imagined anything like it. Brakebills became my haven."

"Which is why you never leave campus," Hotch spoke for the first time, a statement rather than a question. Del nodded.

"This is the only place I've ever felt safe, except for the cabin we take in the mountains every year. And even that place is warded practically to the moon and back. That and I'm bound by my oath to the school to serve as protector and guardian for everyone here - I don't leave when there are students on campus, and some of them live here year round like I did. Our anniversary is the only time I set foot off the grounds."

"So you really are Director of Security?" Hotch asked, trying to suss out what was fact and what was elaborate cover-up.

"That's the closest title Spencer can use. In addition to acting as faculty adviser for the Physical kids, my official position here is Battlemancer-in-Residence," Del answered matter-of-factly. "The wards and barriers around campus are the school's first line of security. I'm the second. I'm basically a one-woman police force for the school, though the Dean handles student discipline."

"Battlemancer?" Rossi asked. "I assume that's...exactly what it sounds like?" Del and Spencer both smiled.

"Yes. Battlemancy is a highly specialized Discipline of Physical magic, the rarest kind. Very powerful and very, very dangerous - most Magicians can use some battle magic to an extent, but very few are capable of it as a formal Discipline. We almost always stay with our alma mater or move to another school to act as protectors. They offered the position to us as partners but Spencer wanted to work in the straight world. Uh, non-magical," she quickly supplied when they clearly missed the vernacular.

"Reid is one too?" Derek asked, eyebrow raised. Sitting comfortably in their home, neither Reid meshed well with image conjured by the word 'battlemancy'. The younger man nodded.

"Let's just say that there's a higher-up in the Bureau that gave the final agreement to waive my fitness requirements because he knew I had other means of handling myself if it every truly came down to it."

The rest of the team let that sink in for a moment. One of their bosses was a Magician too. Had likely gone to this very school.

"But..." JJ broke the silence, then immediately closed her mouth and shook her head.

"What, JJ?" Spencer asked.

"I don't understand something...what about Tobias Hankel? If you're some kind of...I don't know, magical super-warrior, how did he even take you?"

"You mean why didn't I defend myself?" Spencer asked. JJ nodded. "Part of it is that I was caught off guard. I don't actually use a lot of magic in my everyday life - I didn't wear defensive talismans or charms like most Magicians to protect myself from physical or magical attack, though I do now. He snuck up on me from behind. The other part is that Tobias was a Magician too." JJ and Penelope audibly gasped, and the other four team members were visibly surprised. "The cemetery was dripping in wards and barriers. I couldn't have done anything even if I'd had full use of my hands."

"So you have to use your hands?" Penelope asked.

"Yes," Spencer said. "Magic is like a nuclear power. You have to handle it carefully and specifically or you're dead. It's manipulated with extremely precise movement and language - one wrong angle of the fingers, one misspoken word, and you can wreak untold devastation when all you wanted to do was boil water for tea."

"Does it affect your emotional state?" Rossi asked.

Del smirked. "I think what you're really asking is 'what the fuck was up with you back there', yes?" Rossi smiled his little shit-eating smile, nodding. "Don't fuck with my charges, especially my Physicals. But it's more than that - the entrance exam doesn't just determine your magical aptitude, it determines if the kind of person you are, way down deep, is capable of handling everything that comes with being a Magician. Julia may be capable of using magic, but she's incapable of remaining in control of herself. You saw her - emaciated, dark circles under her eyes, desperate to blame anyone but herself for what she did. The hunger, the craving for magic has taken over and it's all that matters to her now. Scarlatti's Web is a horrific spell. I have a nasty temper, and she nearly killed one of my favorite students - I was far more gentle with her than I wanted to be."

"It probably would have been kinder to kill her," Spencer said softly, to the surprised looks and quiet exclamations from his team. Del shook her head at them, imploring them to understand.

"He's not being malicious - one day she's going to do too much, try and work more magic than her body is capable of handling. When that happens, it will take her over - snuff out who she is until only the magic is left. Then she'll be a niffin, and nothing can bring her back from that. Any Magician would rather be dead than become a soulless, empty husk of a human being. If Spencer was in danger of becoming a niffin, I'd kill him without a second thought. He'd do the same for me. It truly would be a kindness."


	5. Meeting of the Minds

I'd been thinking about writing a flashback, and then a reviewer requested one, so this was born. The first meeting.

Please don't be under the illusion that I have a storyline planned out for this. Just sort of making things up as I go along. It has turned into more of an amalgamation of show and book - I'm using the show's storyline, but drawing elements from the book universe as well.

I don't own The Magicians or Criminal Minds. Consider yourselves disclaimed.

* * *

 **MEETING OF THE MINDS**

"I'm really not going crazy."

17-year-old Dr. Spencer Reid couldn't help but stare around in awe at the impossible things going on around him. Two friends bursting into laughter at an unspoken joke shared with their thoughts. Apples floating down from trees into waiting hands for hungry mouths. Is she-? Yup. She's flying.

"Why would you be going crazy?"

He jumped only a little, twisting around for the source of the voice before finally looking down to see a young woman lying in the grass behind the bench he was sitting on. He hadn't noticed her when he sat down a few moments ago.

"Because magic is real and I'm at a secret graduate school hidden away in New York to learn how to use it?"

She flashed him a half-smile, pushing frizzy black curls out of her eyes. "Is it really so crazy that there are still new things to discover in the world? I mean, you're some kind of genius teenage doctor, right? Surely that brain of yours is big enough to fit a little magic?"

He realized who she was then - Dean Fogg had mentioned how unusual it was to have two teenagers invited at the same time, and hopefully they'd do well there. This tiny, almost child-sized person was the other teenager he'd be learning with. She was almost startlingly thin, with tight elfin features and prominent hazel eyes.

"If we're the same age, wouldn't that make you a genius too?" He watched as she picked herself up from the ground and settled on the bench next to him, one leg tucked beneath her.

"I wouldn't know. I've never gone to school before."

"You were homeschooled?"

"No."

Spencer blinked. "Then where did you get your education?"

"I never got a formal education, just what I could get from local libraries."

Spencer blinked again, thinking back to the highly advanced math and science on the entrance exam. She must be entirely auto-didactic. "I'm pretty sure you're a genius." She shrugged delicately.

"If you say so. You are a doctor, right?"

"Uh, yes. Spencer Reid."

"Adelaide Burke. Del. I've been reading ahead in the text books, have you?"

"Yes, they're fascinating. I'm not sure what to think of Popper's Etudes, I don't think my fingers can move in some of those directions."

"What about the Complications? I wonder how specifically each spell has to be tailored to them, and what would happen if something weren't properly adjusted."

"I'm sure we'll find out."

They were silent for several moments, awkwardly sizing each other up, before they both started laughing.

"You're right, we're all going crazy," Del said. "We're at graduate school for Magicians!"

"I'm pretty sure I'll have to leave this off my resume for the FBI," Spencer chuckled.

"FBI?" Del asked. He glanced over - rather than making fun of him for an outlandish dream, she looked surprised and impressed. "What exactly are you a doctor of?"

"Mathematics and Chemistry. I was working on my Engineering dissertation, but as of this morning CalTech happily approved the three-year deferment I didn't know I submitted for. I also have B.A.s in Psychology and Sociology. There's a senior agent with the Behavioral Analysis Unit that's been scouting me since last semester. I'm not sure how I'll explain the sudden three-year addition to my studies, but I'd still like to work there in the future. What about you? What were your plans before you found out about his place?"

Del shrugged. "I didn't really have any - my life has never exactly been bursting with opportunity. But now...now I don't know. It's literally a whole new world for me now - who knows what magical careers exist."

Spencer's brow was furrowed. He didn't want to make any assumptions, but it was obvious she'd had a difficult life. Rather than push too far and alienate what might be his only peer in terms of both age and intellectual level, he glazed over his concerns and shrugged as well. "Well, you have three years to figure it out."

A dimple appeared in Del's right cheek as she smiled at him. "Looks like it. Want to walk to class together?"

Spencer found himself smiling back. "I'd like that."


	6. Announcement

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry it's been so long, you guys, and I'm sorry that this isn't a new chapter yet. I'm also sorry if you follow more than one of my stories, in which case you'll be reading this multiple times.

I'm going to start off with the good news - I'm buying a house! My boyfriend and I are in the process of closing on the cutest little house that's just over a hundred years old and sits on nearly half an acre. It's in a great location for us, with lots of space for us to spread out and a great detached garage for my boyfriend to have his glassblowing studio. I fell in love with it the moment I saw the pictures and knew it had to be ours the second we stepped inside.

The bad news, guys, is that this house is a serious fixer-upper. It needs love. Like, epically enormous shit-tons of love. Hardwood floors need to be sanded and refinished, carpet and tile ripped up and replaced, the roof needs fixing, the driveway needs to be relaid, the windows need to be replaced, the entire inside needs scrubbed and painted, among about a dozen other things. And we've got to do most of it ourselves.

We have four months to work on this house and get it up to living conditions before our current lease runs out on our apartment, and we're going to have to spend basically every waking moment outside our day jobs to do it. I also have to buy a new car - the cost to fix the air conditioning is more than my current car is even worth, AKA D'Artagnan's driving around in 100 degree weather with no AC! - which means I'll probably be working more hours at my day job in addition to playing handywoman.

Which means my writing has to take a backseat. I know I'm already flaky at best, so I really didn't want to just leave you guys hanging for six months before I suddenly popped up out of the woodwork with a flurry of new material. I honestly wouldn't expect to see anything out of me until after the new year at best, unless we manage to really power through these renovations and I get some relaxation time again. Until then, I'm not even going to try to make time to write because I need to focus on my other priorities.

I also hope to use this as an opportunity to come back fresh in six months. I almost feel burned out from trying so hard to write and it's starting to make me a little resentful of my stories - they feel like a chore rather than a treat. I want the process to feel fun again, and I really hope this forced vacation from writing will also be just the thing I need to get my inspiration and creativity back.

I hope you guys know how much I love and appreciate you, and how much it means to me that you've connected to my characters, especially Cal and Rymer. I hope you can be patient with me while I work on the next big step in my life, because I promise I'll make it worth the wait!

Thank you guys so much!

All the love,

D'Artagnan


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